O1NE love

Enthralled with the fusion of skate and street wear, Satish Jacob Cherian brings his own hard flip to Charlotte and beyond with his edgy and provocative designs.

interview by ciara bird // photographs by joshua galloway

Do you remember your first encounter with the skate/streetwear culture? What was it like? In 1994, I was 14 years old and the older heads in my crew took us into NYC for the first time to skate. We went into a store called Supreme and you could just feel the realness. It had just started, but you could tell it was going to turn into a monster. I mean the vibe was unreal – kids skating out front, hanging out – it was sick. The gear and store was simple and plush, game changing to be honest.

What was your intent behind the creation of O1NE? How did the business come about?I wanted to create my own brand based around skateboarding, doing everything from soft goods like clothing and accessories to hard goods like skateboards, trucks and wheels. I came up with O1NE in high school but didn’t really know how to move forward with it. I was young and didn’t have a lot of money so the ideas just grew in my head for years. I wanted to open up in NJ/NYC at first but it was crowded with all my boys’ stores so I came down to Charlotte to check it out. We built O1NE from scratch so I was able to design it myself and really watch it take shape day by day. Those were some of the best days of my life.

How involved are you with the New Jersey location? I’m very involved with the NJ store. Internally that spot doesn’t move without me, but my amazing team holds me down when I’m not there just like my amazing NC team does when I’m in NJ/NYC.

Are there any collaborations you would love to see happen? Supreme, Diamond & HUF always have good collaborations; it’s always sick to see what new pieces they drop! I love Northface collabs ‘cause I’m such a fiend.

You’re pretty involved in the local music/skate culture. Who should we keep our eyes on? I try to be as much as I can. On the music side, my boy GDP from Jersey is working real hard and of course we got Luca Brazi and Tanner Wayne from Carolina – those boys are insane; and I cannot forget my man Stew on the beats! On the skate side, Zack Whyel, Curt Braden and John Hartley are making their rounds murdering shit!

Higher Learning Vol.1 was extremely well received. Tell us more about the show and how collaborations like this come about? We were really happy with the response to H.L.V.1. We all worked really hard to put on a quality show. H.L.V.2 is coming soon we’re just trying to work out the dates. We put this show together for all independent artists trying to get their music out there. We’re just trying to help in any way we can, sometimes the smaller guys just need that backing to blow up! Events like this don’t really come about; the Fillmore Charlotte completely embraced our vision and helped us bring it to life!

Which artists/designers influence your style?Nick Tershay at Diamond, Scott Sasso at 10.Deep, Keith Hufnagel at HUF & Ralph Lauren and Ben Henry at O1NE. Those are the gods right there!

What do you wish fashion would be? I just like it to be quality with real essence. I feel like everyone is coming out with a clothing brand and calling it anything just to be out there. There’s no soul to it.

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